cycling
30. Juli, 09:43 Uhr
If you're thinking about getting "faster" wheels or a "faster aero bike" or even faster tires, get your shoes and feet sorted before any of that. (well actually, getting better tires first isn't that bad).
You know the saying: "don't buy upgrades, ride up grades"? That was and always will be a valid advice. HOWEVER you need to get your ergonomics to a point where you can comfortably ride said grades. With well fitting shoes you'll be faster and can ride for longer than you would be with ill fitting shoes and a complete aero kit, bike, wheels etc.
Having properly fitting shoes with the right insoles and arch support is arguably one of the most important ergonomic factors in comfortable bike riding and you power generation absolutely depends on that.
One of the symptoms of ill fitting shoes is that you'll start subconciously protecting yourself from from pain by preventing you from putting down too much power. This happens especially if you have too narrow shoes which start to hurt the outside edge of the foot. As you put down more power the pain gets worse and that leads to more subconcious protection. As people usually have one larger foot, the issue might well be one sided.
So you end up limiting your power output on one or both sides and this directly affects your ability to perch (ie. lighten the load on the saddle), which leads to saddle issues. It also affects your ability to maintain your posture, especially if the issue is one sided. You might start getting hand pain, or wrist pain, or shoulder and back pain as your limited power output is preventing you from "standing" in your riding posture (which is a kind of dynamic squat). If the issues is one sided, one of your knees might track all over the place where the other stays rock solid and straight.
And you will hurt. And you will hate longer rides.
AND YOU WILL HATE EASY RIDES AND ZONE 2!
It also does not matter whether you ride flats or clipless. Having a good shoes doesn't depend on the pedal system you use. Putting down any amount of power on minimalist slippers is going to suck big time. Ie. even for flats you need something with substance and stiffness. This is coming from someone who tries to exclusively use minimalist shoes when walking.
So the shoes MUST fit. You can wipe your ass with aerodynamics, how many boa ratchet they have, how carbony the sole is. The first thing is always fit. Everything else comes after that and none of it matters, if the shoe doesn't fit.
Most important thing when buying shoes is trying them on. You might not be able to mount cleats and go for a ride, but just putting them on should tell you a few things:
1) Are they wide enough?
- Your toes need to have enough room to be able to be in their neutral position. There's no need to splay toes in cyclign shoes, but the neutral position is the minimum requirement
- The outside of the foot CANNOT cross over the outside sole. Your foot must remain completely over and inside the sole perimiter. This can be a bit difficult to quantify, but it means essentially that the bottom contact point of the foot must be ON the sole and not over the edge. The outside edge of your foot (which is not the contact point) may be a few mm. outside the sole. This is fine. But the contact must always be 100% with the shoe sole. Often the sole is a bit of a cup shape especially when flexed and if you're on that cup edge, you're going to have a very bad time.
2) are they long enough?
- This is easier, but a 0,5cm to 1cm room at the end of the shoe for the toes is required.
- These are not walking shoes so a little less room is acceptable.
3) are they tight enough?
- You can achieve both of the points 1) and 2) by getting shoes that are too large. But the shoe should be tight enough that it does not rattle around your foot. Your foot should remain in place and secure in the shoe.
- Also a too large a shoe will put the shoe shapings at the wrong points (arch limits etc) and also push the cleat mounting points too far forward.
So how do you find shoes? If you're lucky your LBS stocks Lake or Bont (not bontrager). Or you have a lot of different bike shops around you that stock a variety of different shoe brands.
If you're unlucky and your LBS only stocks a few pairs of random shoes, you can start out with Lake and their shoe fitting guide that's found on their website. You can try to find the correct size and order it online (MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO RETURN OR EXCHANGE!). You might need to try out and send back a few pairs but you can consider the expense of the returns and shipping as part of the shoe price. So your MSRP $150 shoe might with tryouts and shippings be $200 at the end.
We haven't discussed insoles or orthotics yet. And we won't because that's more tricky. Personally I use G8's when I need to. However stock Lake insoles and the shoe shape works kinda great for me so...
TL:DR
Get shoes that fit before any other "upgrade". You'll be faster and happier.
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